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RecyclerView is a View component that makes it easy to efficiently display
large sets of data. Instead of creating views for each item in the data set,
RecyclerView improves the performance of your app by keeping a small pool of
views and recycling through them as you scroll through those items.
In Compose, you can use Lazy lists to accomplish the same thing. This page
describes how you can migrate your RecyclerView implementation to use Lazy lists
in Compose.
Migration steps
To migrate your RecyclerView implementation to Compose, follow these steps:
Comment out or remove the RecyclerView from your UI hierarchy and add a
ComposeView to replace it if none is present in the hierarchy yet. This
is the container for the Lazy list that you'll add:
Determine what type of Lazy list composable you need based on your
RecyclerView’s layout manager (see table below). The composable you select
will be the top-level composable of the ComposeView you added in the
previous step.
LayoutManager
Composable
LinearLayoutManager
LazyColumn or LazyRow
GridLayoutManager
LazyVerticalGrid or LazyHorizontalGrid
StaggeredGridLayoutManager
LazyVerticalStaggeredGrid or LazyHorizontalStaggeredGrid
// recyclerView.layoutManager = LinearLayoutManager(context)composeView.setContent{LazyColumn(Modifier.fillMaxSize()){// We use a LazyColumn since the layout manager of the RecyclerView is a vertical LinearLayoutManager}}
Create a corresponding composable for each view type in your
RecyclerView.Adapter implementation. Each view type typically maps to a
ViewHolder subclass, though this may not always be the case. These
composables will be used as the UI representation for different types of
elements in your list:
@ComposablefunListItem(data:MyData,modifier:Modifier=Modifier){Row(modifier.fillMaxWidth()){Text(text=data.name)// … other composables required for displaying `data`}}
The logic in your RecyclerView.Adapter’s onCreateViewHolder() and
onBindViewHolder() methods will be replaced by these composables and the
state that you provide them with. In Compose, there is no separation between
creating a composable for an item and binding data into it—these concepts are
coalesced.
Within the content slot of the Lazy list (the trailing lambda parameter),
use the items() function (or an equivalent overload) to iterate through the
data for your list. In the itemContent lambda, invoke the appropriate
composable item for your data:
RecyclerView has the concept of an ItemDecoration, which you can use to add a
special drawing for items in the list. For example, you can add an
ItemDecoration to add dividers between items:
Compose does not have an equivalent concept of item decorations. Instead, you
can add any UI decorations in the list directly in the composition. For example,
to add dividers to the list, you can use the Divider composable after each
item:
An ItemAnimator can be set on a RecyclerView to animate the appearance of
items as changes are made to the adapter. By default, RecyclerView uses
DefaultItemAnimator which provides basic animations on remove, add, and
move events.
Lazy lists have a similar concept through the animateItemPlacement modifier.
See Item animations to learn more.
Additional resources
For more information about migrating a RecyclerView to Compose, see the
following resources:
Lists and Grids: Documentation for how to implement lists and grids in
Compose.
Content and code samples on this page are subject to the licenses described in the Content License. Java and OpenJDK are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2025-08-20 UTC.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-20 UTC."],[],[],null,["# Migrate RecyclerView to Lazy list\n\n[`RecyclerView`](/develop/ui/views/layout/recyclerview) is a View component that makes it easy to efficiently display\nlarge sets of data. Instead of creating views for each item in the data set,\n`RecyclerView` improves the performance of your app by keeping a small pool of\nviews and recycling through them as you scroll through those items.\n\nIn Compose, you can use [Lazy lists](/develop/ui/compose/lists#lazy) to accomplish the same thing. This page\ndescribes how you can migrate your `RecyclerView` implementation to use Lazy lists\nin Compose.\n\nMigration steps\n---------------\n\nTo migrate your `RecyclerView` implementation to Compose, follow these steps:\n\n1. Comment out or remove the `RecyclerView` from your UI hierarchy and add a\n `ComposeView` to replace it if none is present in the hierarchy yet. This\n is the container for the Lazy list that you'll add:\n\n \u003cFrameLayout\n android:layout_width=\"match_parent\"\n android:layout_height=\"match_parent\"\u003e\n\n \u003c!-- \u003candroidx.recyclerview.widget.RecyclerView--\u003e\n \u003c!-- android:id=\"@+id/recycler_view\"--\u003e\n \u003c!-- android:layout_width=\"match_parent\"--\u003e\n \u003c!-- android:layout_height=\"match_parent /\u003e\"--\u003e\n\n \u003candroidx.compose.ui.platform.ComposeView\n android:id=\"@+id/compose_view\"\n android:layout_width=\"match_parent\"\n android:layout_height=\"match_parent\" /\u003e\n\n \u003c/FrameLayout\u003e\n\n2. Determine what type of Lazy list composable you need based on your\n `RecyclerView`'s layout manager (see table below). The composable you select\n will be the top-level composable of the `ComposeView` you added in the\n previous step.\n\n | `LayoutManager` | Composable |\n |------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------|\n | `LinearLayoutManager` | `LazyColumn` or `LazyRow` |\n | `GridLayoutManager` | `LazyVerticalGrid` or `LazyHorizontalGrid` |\n | `StaggeredGridLayoutManager` | `LazyVerticalStaggeredGrid` or `LazyHorizontalStaggeredGrid` |\n\n\n ```kotlin\n // recyclerView.layoutManager = LinearLayoutManager(context)\n composeView.setContent {\n LazyColumn(Modifier.fillMaxSize()) {\n // We use a LazyColumn since the layout manager of the RecyclerView is a vertical LinearLayoutManager\n }\n }https://github.com/android/snippets/blob/dd30aee903e8c247786c064faab1a9ca8d10b46e/compose/snippets/src/main/java/com/example/compose/snippets/interop/MigrationCommonScenariosSnippets.kt#L79-L84\n ```\n\n \u003cbr /\u003e\n\n3. Create a corresponding composable for each view type in your\n `RecyclerView.Adapter` implementation. Each view type typically maps to a\n `ViewHolder` subclass, though this may not always be the case. These\n composables will be used as the UI representation for different types of\n elements in your list:\n\n\n ```kotlin\n @Composable\n fun ListItem(data: MyData, modifier: Modifier = Modifier) {\n Row(modifier.fillMaxWidth()) {\n Text(text = data.name)\n // ... other composables required for displaying `data`\n }\n }https://github.com/android/snippets/blob/dd30aee903e8c247786c064faab1a9ca8d10b46e/compose/snippets/src/main/java/com/example/compose/snippets/interop/MigrationCommonScenariosSnippets.kt#L124-L130\n ```\n\n \u003cbr /\u003e\n\n The logic in your `RecyclerView.Adapter`'s `onCreateViewHolder()` and\n `onBindViewHolder()` methods will be replaced by these composables and the\n state that you provide them with. In Compose, there is no separation between\n creating a composable for an item and binding data into it---these concepts are\n coalesced.\n4. Within the `content` slot of the Lazy list (the trailing lambda parameter),\n use the `items()` function (or an equivalent overload) to iterate through the\n data for your list. In the `itemContent` lambda, invoke the appropriate\n composable item for your data:\n\n\n ```kotlin\n val data = listOf\u003cMyData\u003e(/* ... */)\n composeView.setContent {\n LazyColumn(Modifier.fillMaxSize()) {\n items(data) {\n ListItem(it)\n }\n }\n }https://github.com/android/snippets/blob/dd30aee903e8c247786c064faab1a9ca8d10b46e/compose/snippets/src/main/java/com/example/compose/snippets/interop/MigrationCommonScenariosSnippets.kt#L90-L97\n ```\n\n \u003cbr /\u003e\n\n| **Tip:** Provide additional parameters to `items()` to optimize your list: use the `key` parameter to provide a unique key for the underlying data so that scroll position will be maintained when items change, or use the `contentType` parameter to specify a content type for the underlying data (this is a similar concept to `RecyclerView`'s view types) so you can reuse item compositions more efficiently.\n\nCommon use cases\n----------------\n\n### Item decorations\n\n`RecyclerView` has the concept of an `ItemDecoration`, which you can use to add a\nspecial drawing for items in the list. For example, you can add an\n`ItemDecoration` to add dividers between items:\n\n\n```kotlin\nval itemDecoration = DividerItemDecoration(recyclerView.context, LinearLayoutManager.VERTICAL)\nrecyclerView.addItemDecoration(itemDecoration)https://github.com/android/snippets/blob/dd30aee903e8c247786c064faab1a9ca8d10b46e/compose/snippets/src/main/java/com/example/compose/snippets/interop/MigrationCommonScenariosSnippets.kt#L103-L104\n```\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\nCompose does not have an equivalent concept of item decorations. Instead, you\ncan add any UI decorations in the list directly in the composition. For example,\nto add dividers to the list, you can use the `Divider` composable after each\nitem:\n\n\n```kotlin\nLazyColumn(Modifier.fillMaxSize()) {\n itemsIndexed(data) { index, d -\u003e\n ListItem(d)\n if (index != data.size - 1) {\n HorizontalDivider()\n }\n }\n}https://github.com/android/snippets/blob/dd30aee903e8c247786c064faab1a9ca8d10b46e/compose/snippets/src/main/java/com/example/compose/snippets/interop/MigrationCommonScenariosSnippets.kt#L111-L118\n```\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n### Item animations\n\nAn `ItemAnimator` can be set on a `RecyclerView` to animate the appearance of\nitems as changes are made to the adapter. By default, `RecyclerView` uses\n[`DefaultItemAnimator`](/reference/androidx/recyclerview/widget/DefaultItemAnimator) which provides basic animations on remove, add, and\nmove events.\n\nLazy lists have a similar concept through the `animateItemPlacement` modifier.\nSee [Item animations](/develop/ui/compose/lists#item-animations) to learn more.\n\nAdditional resources\n--------------------\n\nFor more information about migrating a `RecyclerView` to Compose, see the\nfollowing resources:\n\n- [Lists and Grids](/develop/ui/compose/lists#item-animations): Documentation for how to implement lists and grids in Compose.\n- [Jetpack Compose Interop: Using Compose in a RecyclerView](https://medium.com/androiddevelopers/jetpack-compose-interop-using-compose-in-a-recyclerview-569c7ec7a583): Blog post for efficiently using Compose within a `RecyclerView`.\n\nRecommended for you\n-------------------\n\n- Note: link text is displayed when JavaScript is off\n- [Lists and grids](/develop/ui/compose/lists)\n- [Migrate `CoordinatorLayout` to Compose](/develop/ui/compose/migrate/migration-scenarios/coordinator-layout)\n- [Other considerations](/develop/ui/compose/migrate/other-considerations)"]]